History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 87

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended > Part 87

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degree that of the appellate court, which reviewed his judgments. As an evidence of the esteem in which he has been held, there is subjoined an extract from the York Gazette of September 24, 1839, which, as published by a political opponent of Judge Durkee, is all the more valuable tribute to his worth: "We find in the Adams Sentinel of a late date, a communication, in which the Hon. Daniel Durkee, president judge of this judicial dis- triet, is spoken of in terms of high com- mendation. We feel proud of this justly merited tribute to the worth of one of our citizens; and here at York, where Judge Dur- kee "is at home," we feel sure that every word will be attested by every one who reads it. We hope that this district will not lose the services of so upright and excellent a judicial officer under the operation of that provision of the new constitution, which lim- its the tenure of office of president judges of the courts of common pleas to ten years. Every friend of justice and morality, all who desire to see the bench occupied by a stern foe to vice and disorder, are interested in keeping the judicial ermine upon the shoul- ders of Judge Durkee." As a practicing lawyer, Judge Durkee always occupied a high position at the bars of York and Adams Coun- ties. His specialty was the conducting of trials before juries. He managed his causes with great tact and judgment, and while at the bar, always had a large portion of its forensic practice. Few causes of magnitude or importance were tried in which he was not one of the leading counsel. His influence with a jury, whether he addressed them from the bar, or charged them from the bench, seemed almost magical. Although Judge Durkee was not indebted to the culture of the schools, he had evidently practiced self- discipline long and carefully. But it was from nature he received his best gifts-gifts, the absence of which no amount of educa- tional facilities can supply. The character- istics of his mind were clearness and origi- nality. Both these mental qualities, so rarely met, even singly, he possessed in a very con- siderable degree. They manifested them- selves on the bench, at the bar, in social con- versation, and even in casual remarks, in the working out of his intellectnal processes, in the language he selected, and in the fig. ures and illustrations he employed. For this reason he was always listened to with attention and interest. It was well known that there was no danger of being wea- ried by anything feeble, or commonplace or obscure in what he said Most frequently the products of his mind exhibited the fresh -

Robert J. Feeling

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ness of vigorous and independent thinking, were expressed in strong, idiomatic English, which, adapting itself to the tournure of the thought, fitted close to it, and conveyed to others his ideas with all the clearness in which they existed, in his own mind, were elucidated by illustrations, which were apt, striking, felicitous, and, when the subject or occasion would admit, were enlivened by the scintillations of genuine wit. In his legal investigations and discussions, he always sought for the reason of the law, and endeav- ored to be guided by principles rather than by discordant and irreconcilable decisions. With his great powers of mind, he united great kindness of heart and an eminently sym- pathetic and affectionate disposition, causing him to be beloved in his neigborhood, and idolized in his family. Judge Durkee had none of the arts and stooped to none of the tricks and methods of the politician. His popularity grew out of his genial and kindly disposition, and his well known integrity.

HON. ROBERT J. FISHER. *

A large part of the judicial history of York County is inseparably associated with the career of Hon. Robert J. Fisher, who, for more than thirty years, presided over its courts. On the 4th day of November, 1828, when twenty-two years of age, he was ad- mitted to practice in the several courts of York County. He had received a thorough legal education at the Yale Law School, New Haven, Conn., and in the office of his father, George Fisher, Esq., at Harrisburg, who was widely known and honored, and was for many years a leading member of the Dauphin Coun- ty bar. For twenty-three years he worked diligently at the bar, attaching to himself by his integrity and ability a large clientage and a host of friends. In 1851 he was elected to the bench of the Nineteenth Judicial District, composed, then, of the counties of York and Adams. Being twice re-elected (1861 and 1871), he was, until 1875, the only law judge of the two counties, accomplishing a vast amount of labor, and rendering with prompt- ness and widely recognized learning, decis- ions which have commanded general respect. His rulings have almost universally been up -. held by the appellate tribunals, and his opinions have been quoted as an authority in this and other States, with more frequency than those of almost any other cotemporane- ous nisi prius judge. Although an earnest Democrat, during his official career, he care- fully abstained from all connection with pol-

itics. Judge Fisher possessed, in an unusual degree, the rare ability of viewing a question- impartially and deciding on principle un- affected by prejudice or fear. Particularly was this characteristic strikingly illustrated in his course during the Rebellion. Now that the intense excitement and intolerant partisanship of the time have passed away, his undeviating adherence to the established principles of the common law, appears most admirable. Though a decided and uncom- promising Unionist, he was, nevertheless, determined in his opposition to every unwar- rantable encroachment of the military upon the civil power. When passion and fear de- prived others of their judgment, he seems never to have lost his cool discretion, either in the presence of Federal soldiers or rebel invaders. On one occasion, a citizen had been illegally arrested by the military author- ities at the hospital on the commons, and a writ of habeas corpus was taken out in his behalf. Upon its return, the prisoner was brought into court by a squad of soldiers with fixed bayonets. That show of force, however, failed to affect the action of the court. Promptly he required the soldiers to recog- nize civil authority, saying that as citizens they had a right to be there, but as armed men, they must withdraw. After a hearing, the prisoner was released. At the time of the Confederate occupation of York, in 1863, the rebel commander sent to Judge Fisher for the keys of the court house. He replied that he did not have them, and that the commissioners were the only legal custodians of the public buildings; upon another sum- mons being sent, however, he went with the messenger and found that the soldiers had in some way obtained admission to the prothon- otary's office, and were preparing to destroy the records there deposited. As the chief judicial magistrate of the county, he warmly expostulated against the destruction of these valuable evidences, the loss of which would be irremediable. The general at first said it would only be just retaliation for the depredations of the Northern armies in the South, but after a long discussion, the judge compelled him to acknowledge the unlawful- ness of all such acts of useless plunder, and persuaded him to withdraw his men. The records and valuable documents of the county were thus saved by the coolness and firmness of the venerable judge. There are several other occasions, which many citizens recall, during those turbulent times, when he showed like remarkable courage, facing mobs with fearless dignity and with unusual mildness, but at the same time unusual determination,.

*By H. E. Niles, Esq.

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maintaining order and insisting upon the supremacy of the civil law.

Judge Fisher comes of one of the oldest and most respectable families of the State. Born in Harrisburg, May 6, 1806, he is the son of George Fisher, Esq., and Ann Ship- pen. daughter of Robert Strettell Jones, of Burlington, N. J. He was baptized Robert Strettell Jones Fisher. Robert Strettell was a member of the Provincial Council from 1741 for twenty years. Robert Strettell Jones, his grandfather, was a member of the New Jersey legislature and secretary of the Com- mittee of Safety in 1776. His great-grand- father, Isaac Jones, was twice mayor of Phil- adelphia (1767 and 1768, ) and a member of the common council in 1764. His great great grandfather Fisher was one of the original company of Quakers, who came from England with William Penn, in 1682, and who laid out the city of Philadelphia. His grand- father, George Fisher, received from his father a large tract of land in Dauphin County, upon which he laid out the borough of Middletown. Judge Fisher was twice married, and in the quiet scenes of domestic life he always experienced great satisfaction. His first wife, Catharine, daughter of Horatio Gates Jameson, M. D., became the mother of eight children, and died in 1850. In 1853 he married Mary Sophia, daughter of Eben- ezer Cadwell, of Northbridge, Mass., who bore him two children. His eldest son, George Fisher, Esq., is a well established member of the York County bar, and his other son, Robert J. Fisher, Jr., having been for several years connected with the patent office, is now one of the three examiners in chief. In matters of religion, Judge Fisher has always been eminently catholic. From child- hood, his associations have been largely with the Protestant Episcopal Church, although particularly charitable toward those of differ- ent faith and order, and a frequent attendant at their services. In 1870, he became a com- municant member of St. John's Church, in York, has been for many years a vestryman, and was the first chancellor of the diocese of central Pennsylvania.

ASSOCIATE JUDGES.

COLONEL HENRY SCHLEGEL.

Mr. Schlegel (Slagle) was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1735. His father, Christo- pher Slagle, of Saxony, came to Pennsylvania in 1713, and the following year took up a large tract of land on the Conestoga Creek, and built a mill. Subsequently he transferred his interests therein, and removed, in 1737,

west of the Susquehanna, locating near the present site of Hanover, now within the lim- its of Adams County, on Slagle's Run, a branch of the Little Conewago. Henry was one of four sons,-Daniel, Jacob and Chris- topher, and followed the occupation of his father, a farmer and miller. He was com- missioned one of the provincial magistrates in October, 1764, and continued in office by the convention of 1776. In December, 1774, he served on the committee of inspection for York County; commanded a battalion of as- sociators in 1779; was a member of the Prov- incial Conference of June 18, 1776, and of the subsequent convention of the 15th of July. He was appointed by the assembly, December 16, 1777, to take subscriptions for the Continental loan; November 22, 1777, acted as one of the commissioners which met at New Haven, Conn., to regulate the price of commodities in the colonies. He repre- sented York County in the General Assembly from 1777 to 1779; appointed sub-lieutenant of the county March 30, 1780; one of the auditors of depreciation accounts for York County, March 3, 1781; member of the con- stitutional convention of 1789-90; commis- sioned by Gov. Mifflin, one of the associate judges of York County, August 17, 1791, and continued as such on the organization of Adams County. He represented the latter county in the legislature, sessions of 1801-2. Col. Slagle died at his residence, near Han- over; his remains were interred in the grave- yard adjoining St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. The various offices held by him show conclusively that he had the confidence of the community. He was an ardent patriot, a faithful officer, and an upright citizen. Only one or two of his descendants are now living. .

HON. JACOB RUDISELL.

Jacob Rudisell was born in Hanover, and early in life became a prominent man of public affairs in his section. In 1784 he was commissioned justice of the peace under the constitution of 1776. Under the constitution of 1790 he was appointed one of the first associate judges of York County and served in that position until his death, which occurred in the village of Littlestown, Adams County, having gone there with a sleighing party on the even- ing of December 6, 1800. Judge Rud- isell was a man of good education and excellent character. He was a born penman and attended to a great deal of Orphans' Court work, and conveyancing for his friends and neighbors in and around Hanover. He

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was one of the original trustees of York County Academy. The inscription on his tomb in St. Matthew's church-yard shows how highly he honored his life partner.

HON. GEORGE BARNITZ.

Mr. Barnitz was born in York, in the year 1780. He was appointed associate judge of York County, by Gov. Snyder, in March, 1813, and held the office until within a few years of his death, which occurred April 19, 1844, when he was seventy-four years of age. He was twice chosen a presidential elector, and held several local offices with great credit, and was a man of high honor and integrity. A meeting of the bar after his death passed resolutions in commendation of his life and character.

HON. JOHN L. HINKLE.

John L. Hinkle, was born in Hanover, September 25, 1781. He was appointed justice of the peace for his native town, March 14, 1817, under the constitution of 1790, and also turned his attention to sur- veying. For many years he conducted a hardware store, He had an innate love for politics, could speak the Pennsylvania Ger- man language with great fluency, and made many trips over York County in the interest of his favorite candidates. For many years he exerted possibly more influence over the German vote of the county than any other person who ever lived in the county. He was appointed associate judge of York Coun- ty, December 10, 1818, and served until the expiration of his term of office as provided by the constitution of 1838, viz .: Febuary 27, 1841. He died in Hanover, February 18, 1846.

HON. GEORGE DARE.

George Dare was born near Lewisberry, this county, July 12, 1789, of Scotcb-Irish par- entage, he and his ancestors being members of the old Moneghan Presbyterian Church, now in the borough of Dillsburg. He fol- lowed the occupation of a farmer, and filled the office of justice of the peace in Moneghan Township. He was appointed associate judge of the courts of York County, April 5, 1841, and served till March 28, 1846. He died September 25, 1863, at the age of seventy-five years. He was a man of the highest honor and integrity and highly respected by his friends and neighbors.

HON. SAMUEL COXE BONHAM.

Mr. Bonham was born at Lincolnton, S. C. November 10, 1791. Moved from South Carolina to Lancaster, Penn., 1814; mar-

ried Margaret Dritt, daughter of Gen. Jacob Dritt, March 17, 1818; married Eliza- beth Stehman May 19, 1825. He came to York in 1827 and occupied a promi- nent position in this community, and filled important public stations. He was a mem- ber of the convention that formed the con- stitution of 1838, representing York County in that body, together with Charles A. Bar- nitz, John R. Donnell and Jacob Stickel. He was for ten years one of the associate judges of the county of York, having been appointed March 26, 1840; and held the position until the expiration of his term in 1850. Judge Bonham had attained a ripe old age; when he died on Wednesday, May 14, 1856, and although he had been for some years retired from the bench, a meeting of the bar bore testimony to the high esteem in which he was held by them and community.

HON. JACOB KIRK.

Jacob Kirk was the son of Isaac Kirk, and was born of Quaker parentage, at New Mar- ket, Fairview Township. He first gained local notoriety as a great advocate of public education. He was appointed a justice of the peace under the constitution of 1790, and also became a prominent land surveyor in his native section of the county. He was appointed associate judge of York County after the expiration of the term of Judge Bonham, in 1850, and held the office until the election of judges in 1851. In 1854 he was elected first county superintendent of common schools. Owing to feeble health he resigned the office before the expiration of his term, and soon after died in his native village.

HON. ISAAC KOLLER.

Mr. Isaac Koller was born February 5, 1800. He was a prominent and highly re- spected citizen of Shrewsbury; had been one of the principal men in the organization of that borough, and was postmaster during Andrew Jackson's administration. In 1851, by amendments to the constitution of the commonwealth, judges were made elective, and at the Democratic county convention of that year he was nominated as one of the candidates for associate judge, together with Hon. Robert J. Fisher, president, and Hon. Mills Hays, associate He was elected in October, and was commissioned for five years by Gov. William F. Johnston from the first Monday of December following. On this last mentioned day he took his seat with the other judges of the new bench. He exercised the duties of the office until 1854, when he

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died, October 21st, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. At a meeting of the bar on that oc- casion, the tribute of respect to his memory was that of an upright and affable judge, and an amiable and honorable member of society. His son, Benjamin F. Koller, Esq., has been justice of the peace in Shrewsbury for thirty years, and in 1879 was clerk of the courts. He had commenced the study of civil engin- eering and Jaw, under Thomas P. Potts, Esq., but has held official positions ever since.

HON. MILLS HAYS.

Mills Hays was a son of Jesse Hays, of Welsh descent, who emigrated to Newberry Township from Chester County during the year 1770. He married Margery Mills, a Quakeress, and resided near the village of Yocumtown. Mills Hays was their third child, and was born in 1786. On August 13, 1817, he was appointed one of the three jus- tices of the peace for the third district, com- posed of Newberry and Fairview Townships under the constitution of 1790, and served in that capacity continuously until the fall of 1839. Under the amendments to the consti- tution in 1851, he was elected associate judge of York County, serving one full term of five years. He died in the village of New- berrytown in June 1858, aged seventy-two years.

HON. JOHN RIEMAN.

Mr. Rieman was born in 1802. In 1854 he was appointed associate judge in the place of Hon. Isaac Koller, deceased. The popular- ity of this appointment was made apparent at the polls the next year by his election to the office. In 1860, Judge Rieman was re- elected, receiving then his third commission. He died October 19, 1862, aged sixty years. Judge Rieman, by his will, made August 28, 1867, bequeathed $6,000 in trust to the borough of York for the benefit of the worthy poor. The direction was to invest the money in United States six per cent bonds, the interest to be paid to the benevolent society, and in case of no such society he directed the borough authorities to organize such, to be called the Benevolent Society of the borough .of York.

HON. DAVID NEWCOMER.

Mr. Newcomer was born at Kralltown, Washington Township, York County, April 25, 1809. Early in life he turned his attention to farming. During the militia days he drilled a company in his native section and after- ward commanded a volunteer company. He had few advantages of acquiring an edu- cation when young, but on attaining man-

hood became a constant reader. He had an extraordinary memory, had acquired a vast fund of scientific information, and was a great student of ancient history. He re- moved to Hanover, and in 1866 was elected associate judge of York County and served continuously until 1871. He died in Han- November 24, 1874

HON. PETER MCINTYRE.

Peter McIntyre was born in Sterling, Scotland, and came to York. He became a manufacturer of whips on a large scale, and was a prominent and active citizen. In 1860 he was appointed by President Buchanan collector of the port of Charleston, but did not enter upon the duties of his office on account of the unsettled state of the national affairs. He was chief burgess of the borough of York, in 1857, and was elected associate judge in 1863, and re-elected in 1868, but served only a year of his second term. He died October 2, 1869.

HON. JOHN MOORE.

John Moore was born of English parents in Fairview, and early in life became a prom- inent man of public affairs in his native township. The public school system had no firmer advocate in the upper end. He was kind hearted, jovial and always en- joyed good company. After serving in various township offices with great acceptance he was elected associate judge of York County, and served from 1871 till the expira- of his term of office in 1876. He had no successor, the office being abolished. He died a few years ago at his country home in Fairview, a few miles west of Lewisberry.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

SAMUEL JOHNSTON, ESQ.

Samuel Johnston, the founder of the bar, was admitted to practice on the 28th of Oc- tober, 1755, and opened an office in York. In 1764 he was elected prothonotary, which office carried with it at that period the offices of clerk of the court, register and recorder. He remained prothonotary until the Revolu- tion, when the laws were made of non-ef- fect, and all officers displaced, by reason of the separation of the colonies from Great Britain. Smith, Hartley and Clark, York attorneys of Revolutionary fame, studied law in his office. Gen. Henry Miller also studied law under him, but before completing his studies joined the army. Graydon, in his Memoirs speaks of him, when prothonotary, as a "respectable man, who had been in the

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practice of the law, and had a very good li- brary." Also, "I was well received by Mr. Johnston, but with that formal, theoretical kind of politeness which distinguishes the manner of those who constitute the better sort in small secluded towns; and if in these days (1765), the prothonotary of a county of German population was not confessedly the most considerable personage in it, he must have been egregiously wanting to himself. This could with no propriety be imputed to my patron. Although apparently a mild and modest man, he evidently knew his conse quence, and never lost sight of it." He was twice married.

*HON. JAMES SMITH.

Mr. John Smith, father of the Hon. James Smith, was born and educated in Ireland, in which country he was a respectable and en. terprising farmer. What induced him to prefer this one of the colonies, was that some of his brothers and uncles had emi- grated hither before him, having come over with Penn when that proprietor first visited this province. Those of his relations settled in Chester County and became Quakers; their descendants still live in that county and the county of Lancaster.

Mr. John Smith proceeded with his family to Lancaster County, and finally settled west of the Susquehanna in what is now York County. Here he continued to reside until about the year 1761, when he died in the neighborhood of Yorktown at an advanced age.

James Smith, the second son of John and the subject of our present biography, was aged about ten years when he came with his father into this country. He resided in the paternal mansion for some years; but when his brother George had begun to practice law, he removed to Lancaster, and com- menced in his office the study of the same profession. He completed his law studies under the tuition of his brother, at the time of whose death he was aged but twenty-one.

Not long after he was admitted to the practice of the law, he removed to the neigh- borhood of the place where Shippensburg now stands, in company with Mr. George Ross, who was the friend and companion of Mr. Smith in early and after life. The chief occupation of Mr. Smith in his new abode was that of surveying; though whenever oc- casion offered, he gave advice on subjects connected with his profession. After a few years he removed to the town of York, where he made his permanent home for the rest of

his life. Here he commenced the practice of the law, and continued in it with few inter- missions until near the time of his death.

Hitherto Mr. Smith had led a single life, but in or about the year 1760 he married Eleanor Armor, daughter of John Armor, who lived near New Castle in Delaware, and who was brother of Thomas Armor, a justice and surveyor in York Conuty before the Rev- olution. Eleanor, at the age of twenty-one, came to reside for a while with her uncle in York, but in less than a year after her arrival she was wedded to one of the best of bus- bands.

Mr. Smith begun about this time to have a very extensive practice. He attended the conrts of all the neighboring counties. With no other events in his life than those which are incident to most gentlemen of his pro- fession, he continned iu York until the be- ginning of the Revolution. But here it should be remarked that Mr. Smith was for some time the only lawyer in York; for though Joseph Yeates and other lawyers of the neighboring counties did much business here, yet Mr. Smith had (with the exception of perhaps a few years) no brother in the law that resided here. Wheu Thomas Hartley, afterward colonel in the Revolution and a member of congress, commenced practice here in the year 1759, there were but two lawyers in the county of York, viz .: himself and Mr. Smith.

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History of York County, Pennsylvania : from the earliest period to the present time, divided into general, special, township and borough histories, with a biographical department appended, Part 87

Author: Gibson, John, Editor Publication date: 1886 Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Gibson, John, Editor
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: F.A. Battey Publishing Co., Chicago
Number of Pages: 1104